It is the intention of the Selectmen in creating this Committee to provide a mechanism to assist the Board and Town Manager in developing programs and projects to foster energy conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy generation and sustainability planning. This new committee will gather, study and evaluate information that will help determine various approaches for improving the energy efficiency of operating town and school buildings and vehicles, investigate alternatives energy technologies and identify funding opportunities to help the Town achieve its energy and sustainability related goals.

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Have you heard of our amazing success? Two weeks ago, the collaborating towns of Lincoln, Sudbury and Wayland hit Tier Five in the Solarize program: the lowerest pricing tier for solar photovoltaics with our chosen installer, Astrum Solar.

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center sent out a press release – picked up by the Sudbury Patch and the Wayland Town Crier, among others – about this milestone of over 250 kW contracted. If I may be permitted some competitive comparisons, we were the first Solarize community to reach his level, indeed before any of the others even hit Tier Two.

Did we stop there? No way! By the time you read this, we've already doubled that amount. Yes, we now have over 500 kW – over 54 systems – waiting to be installed on our roofs over the next year. Wayland alone accounts for over 250 kW, with over 30 systems (so Sudbury needs to get cracking)

This translates into hundreds of thousands of dollars of savings that would not otherwise have been available had we not worked together to go solar as a community. Environmentally, at this point we'll save over 380 metric tons of CO2 annually, and over 7,500 metric tons of CO2 during the lifetimes of the arrays.

Will we stop there? No way! Because we're going for 1000 kW. We want our towns to be, collectively if not individually, solar leaders of Massachusetts, a state that is a solar leader in the nation.

We can't do it without you. Our success so far has been thanks to you, and now we're asking you to make it happen again. You can help in four ways:

Forward this email to anyone you know who lives in Wayland, Lincoln or Sudbury. Talk to your neighbors, your friends. Word-of-mouth, facebook buzz, twitter and good old email chains is how we got this momentum going the first time around. We can do it again and ensure that there is not a resident in Wayland who has not had a chance to participate.

Another way that you can help is by planting a Solarize lawn sign to complement the billboards going up all over town. Let Ramiknow and I'll deliver one, or come to any events to pick one up.

If you're one of the unlucky ones who has too much shade for solar PV, please know that we are looking into the possibility of a solar co-op. Other towns are working on this and we are monitoring their progress. Once this program is finished (September 30), we will start working on this in earnest, and we look forward to your input and help.